Lost: Mysteries of the Universe - Episode 2

Coraline

Coraline is a stop-motion animated film based on an award-winning novel of the same name written by Neil Gaiman. The story centers around Coraline, a young girl who moves into the Pink Palace Apartments with her distracted and always too busy for her parents, Mel and Charlies Jones. The story features a wide array of intriguing characters, including Wybie Lovat, the grandson of the owner of the Pink Palace Apartments; two old and overweight actresses, Miss Spink and Miss Forcible; Mr. Bobinsky, a circus mice trainer, and last but not least a black cat who's wise to the truth about the 'other mother'.

Whilst exploring her new home, Coraline finds a little door hidden behind wallpaper which at first glance appears to be bricked up. Later that night Coraline manages to travel through that portal into a parallel reality into an apartment exactly like hers where her 'other mother' and 'other father' look the same as her real parents, except they have button eyes, and they're everything her parents are not, interested and caring, and better in every way. Mom cooks delicious meals and dad even writes songs for her. Coraline navigates between both worlds at night while her parents are asleep. All seems like paradise until she turns down the 'other mother's' offer to stay there forever, as long as she lets them sew buttons for her eyes, then things get a little hairy, and Coraline quickly realizes to be careful what you wish for.

I loved this movie for what was on the screen, but having read up on the making of the film, I loved it all the more for the talent, dedication and creativity behind its creation. As I said earlier, Coraline is stop-motion animation which basically means the film is shot frame by frame as true artisans of their craft manipulate miniature models of each character. According to the film's website, it took some of the most talented animators and puppetmakers in the world three years to make this film. It really is incredible when you think that each scene took hundreds, maybe thousands, of shots to capture from each minute body movement to each little grimace or grin on a character's face. Truly amazing stuff. Here's a YouTube clip which offers a brief glimpse into the making of Coraline.


My only warning is that despite the fact that it's an animated movie, this really isn't for little kids. It's a bit too dark and creepy for the little ones.

All Things "Lost"

Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do! ABC's new webisode series (Episode 1 below) will undoubtedly add to the Lost mystique, stoke the embers of fan interest and give birth to a new array of theories and what ifs in advance of the series' final season. The webisodes are promoted as a recently found documentary series from an old 1980's show. I’ve watched and re-watched this first episode in hopes of unearthing some clues towards solving Lost's unending puzzle, but I definitely have to see more. This is ABC.com's exact language:

Mysteries of the Universe: The Dharma Initiative
A project discussed for years in and around conspiracy circles. Once thought to be lost, this explosive documentary series has never been seen before...until now.

The five-part video series will screen as follows:
Episode 1: July 23rd, 2009
Episode 2: August 4th, 2009
Episode 3: September 8th, 2009
Episode 4: October 15th, 2009
Episode 5: November 16th, 2009


If you still can't get enough of Lost? If you're suffering from Lost withdrawal? Visit EW.com for some great videos from a Totally Lost Panel at Comic-Con 2009 that was hosted by the ever-theorizing Lost guru Doc Jensen, including an insightful interview with Michael Emerson aka Ben Linus.

Remembering the Good Times

It's been two months since mom passed away, and as time goes by I find it a little bit easier to remember the happier moments we shared prior to her illness. During the first days and weeks, and at odd times even now, quiet moments inevitably brought back sad memories of the months leading up to mom's passing. I'd be driving in to work and find myself crying as I remembered the sadness in her eyes when I arrived for my afternoon visits. My heart would break all over again as I thought back to the tears she shed shortly after the cranial hemorrhage, before the vascular dementia had really taken its hold, when she was aware of the damage wrought by that one event, and how she thought other residents were laughing at her halting and lurching steps as I helped her walk.

Now that the pain isn't so fresh, happier memories are coming back into sharper focus. I look back at old photo albums and try to let those images, captured at happier moments in time, bring me back to the moments of joy and laughter that we shared. For example, her childlike excitement on Christmas mornings when she got to open her gifts from me, especially the year I surprised her with a Dooney & Burke bag she'd been eyeing for months. She was beside herself with joy, because she truly hadn't expected it. Even years later she'd always tell me that that was her favorite bag. One year, after I started working, I took her to Disney World. She'd never been there. I took this photo, and it's one of my favorites of her because of that smile. It's one of the biggest smiles I've ever seen on her face.


I love seeing the devilish grin she's sporting in this photo, as she laughingly sat on a friend's motorcycle. As with most photos of mom, you'll note the cigarette in her hand. Those things were her constant companion. They were a part of who she was, and yet in the end, after having smoked two packs of cigarettes a day for most of her life, she didn't remember them.


In the end, I hope I'll remember it all, good and bad, because it's both which make up a life. Her life. Our life together.

The Art of Racing in the Rain

This wonderful book written by Garth Stein is heart-warming and heart-breaking all in one. A human story about love, about the struggles of reaching for a dream, and the faith to never give up on that dream even when all hope seems lost. What makes this touching human story so unique is that its told by a dog, Enzo. On the eve of his death, Enzo thinks back on his life with the Swift family and everything they've meant to him, in particular, his master, Denny Swift, a young race car driver who dreams of making it big.

Enzo is a philosopher, a TV addict, and a racing fanatic. He's also certain in the knowledge that once he's finished living his life as a dog, once his body has served its purpose and his soul has done what it came to do, he'll be reincarnated as a man. He knows this from a documentary about Mongolia which he saw on TV. In fact, he's always felt almost human. He just wishes he could carry with him all the memories and all of the knowledge that he's garnered on the human condition into his new life.

Enzo's memories begin when Denny first picked him out from a pile of puppies, their move to a little apartment on Lake Washington, and his consternation at Denny falling in love and marrying Eve. When Eve becomes pregnant, Enzo marvels at the female sex. "The life makers", and when Eve's contractions come early and she's home alone with the midwives because Denny is away at a race, it's Enzo who's at Eve's side in her hour of need. As she nurses her newborn baby, Zoe, Eve calls Enzo to her bedside, he hesitates, but then as she scratches his head and cries for wishing Denny was there, he stays, he knows not to move, because he knows that she needed him there. When she asks him to always protect the "tiny purple thing" that the midwives had placed on her torso to nurse, he feels the obligation, and as the story progresses Enzo's love, loyalty and dedication to his family will be demonstrated many a time. In good times and bad times, like Eve's illness which Enzo detects through his keen sense of smell as a bad odor of "wet, soggy decay" that didn't belong in Eve's head. Through it all, Enzo will be there as a source of comfort and love for his family.

Through Enzo's yearning to be human and everything that it encompasses, like walking and talking, we gain a greater appreciation for those simple things which we at times take for granted, like walking and talking. The ability to verbalize one's thoughts, wants and feelings is nothing to sneeze at. In thinking back on my mom's illness, one of the things that most broke my heart was the fact that she was trapped within herself, unable to communicate, to convey her fears, her sorrows.

I loved this book, but even more so, I loved Enzo. A wise soul full of wisdom that the humans he so much admires could only aspire to. Enzo is ready for life, ready "to live every day as if it had been stolen from death...to say I am alive, I am wonderful, I am. I am." That's how I wish I could live my life.

A Poem

Disclaimer: I am not a poet. I don't claim to be a poet. I don't aspire to be a poet. I merely wrote a poem. So as you read the following with those thoughts in mind, please be kind in your critique, whether you think the poem is so-so, horrible or horrendous. Just keep in mind that I'm a big softie and my feelings are easily hurt.

A Word
I thought of inventing a word
A word that could touch the whole world
A word that could give us strength through our fears
A word that could wipe away all of our tears
A word that could mean love, faith and hope
A word we could cling to when we're at the end of our rope
A word that could make us feel safe and sound
A word that would hopefully always be around
A word we'd take for granted each single day
A word that could make a grown man cry when its taken away
And as I weighed my own thoughts
I realized my own ignorance
For such a word does exist
Its in all of our lives
For us to love and to treasure
What is this word you might ask,
Its mother, mom or mama
A word that holds a love without measure.

Copyright 2009 Maria Rodriguez